Great journal! Thanks for sharing.
Great journal! Thanks for sharing.
-Seconds Count. Misses Don't-
Wow - that a thorough and awesome AAR. Thank you for sharing!
My wife & I have a couple who are our best friends and they want us to all hike the JMT in a few years to celebrate our 20th wedding anniversaries. I'm totally up for it, so I found this fascinating.
Full disclosure: I am a freelance professional photographer/cinematographer for the firearms and defense industry, among others.
Dude, I sense your anti-ultralight vibe. I was once there. But going ultra light makes it much more enjoyable. Hike longer and farther, or hike the same but much more comfortably.
At least your friend talked you out of taking an e tool. That would have been insane.
Nice photos.
Good post, I guess.... pl;ria (Pretty long; read it all)
Made me late for work yesterday cause I could not stop reading. Going back to read again, slower.
Sir, I'll have you know, back in the day I carried 70+ lbs of the lightest weight equipment money could buy!Originally Posted by BigD
I may not have fully understood the "ultralight" concept......
Great thread OP.
Thank you
Thank you for sharing. It is a great accomplishment.
That was a fantastic AAR, thanks so much, and congratulations on one hell of a hike.
I love to hike, but I've always despised backpacking. That's why I never did Philmont in my scouting days. But the unbelievable pictures you took have me reconsidering my stance on that for the first time ever. That's seriously some National Geographic quality pics.
I'm going to read your Mountaineering class AAR that you linked, but have you done any similar reviews of your other big treks that you referenced?
Alpha and I actually discussed this a fair bit, especially since there is a decent chance we would do this again to actually complete it with Bravo. I'm probably too paranoid to ever go true ultralight, but there are easy places that I could cut weight; the tent, hardshells, charging solutions, stove, FAK packaging, and water filter are extremely easy choices that could probably cut at least 10 lb, plus bringing less of the ancillary stuff (e.g., why bring both a knife and a multitool); I am a bit conflicted on ultralight packs, I'm curious as to how much support/performance I would be losing by going to something like a HMG Porter, as my Kifaru with only like 20 lb in it is extremely comfortable. This trip is actually by far the lightest my pack has been in any backcountry trip, as so many trips have been to the desert, where we start out with 40 lb of water alone, or else winter trips where we're carrying much more clothing and gear.
Sorry, I have not. The class AAR I had done because, well, it's a class, and that's what I do for classes. For the JMT, it was because it is a fairly iconic hike, and I had figured thru-hikes are bit more unusual, and worth the effort. I probably should have done one for my first backcountry trip, though, through Guadalupe Mountains National Park, because that was, to put it mildly, extremely educational, as most disasters are wont to be.
Understood, and thanks again for the amazing adventure sharing. I hope you do the same on your next big one! Do you know what it will be yet?
Very cool & inspirational Default. I'm still working my way towards longer and longer day hikes, but the JMT sounds like something to shoot for in the future...
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